Charity Be and Mette Sanggaard met at GlogauAiR Arts Residency for the first time in July 2021. Having discovered many symbiotic elements in their practices, and inspired by magnetic fields and the vibrational effects on and between bodies, they created Everything in Life is Vibration–Albert Einstein.
In consideration of how energies interact between lifeforms and metaphor for how humans connect, Everything in Life is Vibration–Albert Einstein is a performative experiment with the frequencies and fields of magnetic attraction. Our individual energetic frequencies are all unique and yet, also interdependent. When we try to sync these energies, what magnetic fields form? How do our moving bodies engage with existing magnetic fields, even at a cellular level?
Following the first level of investigative performances on 24 August and 17 September 2021 for audiences at GlogauAiR in Berlin, we developed our findings into participatory performative events. Please click the link below to see the registration page. Below that are the promotional materials, followed by the developmental materials.
Two Promotional Videos for the event played side by side in the glass showcase outside GlogauAiR in November 2021. Each video was shown in both English and German, the two versions alternating and looping endlessly.
Following our performances, Mette and I developed the science and our embodied knowledge that came from working with the magnets on our bodies. I created wearable magnetic accessories, movement scores, an audio score, a visual score and blueprint for a prepared space. I made promotional videos for a window display in a popular Berlin neighborhood. Mette created flyers and Instagram postings, and returned to Berlin from Copenhagen to co-facilitate the events. She realized my blueprint for the space on the gallery floor.
This is my ideal movement space for magnetic movements and connections. It was modified to accommodate this particular gallery space. See photo documentation below.
Here are the magnetic hand mitts that I developed over several weeks of trial and error. They are hand felted and constructed. Rare-earth neo-dym magnets (80 kilogram strong) are sewn into the palm of each mitt.
Here is the audio-visual score that participants responded to:
Here are my written reflections following the two participatory events.
Here are slides taken from the documentation videos:
Schedule: Participants sign up in advance. We start with a short warm-up exercise to sense the magnetic field of their own body. Next they are introduced to handmade wearable magnetic devices. Wearing these accessories on their arms, legs and hands, participants are guided on how to sense the magnetic fields created between their body and those of other participants through movement. Participants are invited to respond to energy in the room while freely interpreting cues of a 20-minute audio-visual score in a prepared space.